It's an exciting time for us at TDK right now, our judges are reviewing the 2026 awards submissions and we have also had loads of events in cities around the world which brought over 200 people together for design chats, inspiration and fun!
This month we are asking whether, to be a successful designer, you need to leave your true self at home. Many of us have experienced the heart ache of having to hide parts of ourselves, whether it's our ethnicity, our activism, our queerness; it can be very liberating to find a workplace that welcomes you for who you really are.
So this month we are thrilled to bring you an article written exclusively for The Design Kids by Jessica Walsh. Jessica explains how she combines her activism and her design practice and the impact it brings.
We also speak to designers James Calhoun, Chloe Reweti and Zara Shrestha who share how their commitment to bringing their whole selves to their work has made for a fulfilling design practice.
Through out the year we have heard from many designers all over the world about how TDK can help them to level up.
One thing we hear loud and clear is that designers need to make sure their folio reflects who they really are, it needs to express what makes them tick and how they work so they can find the right clients and the right work for them. So we made our folio course, an online course which guides you through the development of a folio that is true to your story, helps you get to where you're going and actually works for you!
See you next month when we announce our 2026 awards winners!! Whoo hoo!
Form follows function becomes form follows people, and good typesetting is a quiet kind of respect for the reader.
Accessibility is part of the job from day one, and the care shows in the details nobody notices, like error messages and empty states.
Being a trans man has shaped how he sees the assumptions baked into design. For James, queerness in design is about who gets included, and his visual language doesn’t lean on a rainbow palette. In this interview he shares a final-round interview that went sideways and what he’d tell anyone starting out as AI shifts the ground beneath them.
Of Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Porou descent, Chloe Reweti is a Wellington-based designer whose Māori culture isn't a layer applied to the work — it's the framework the work is built from.
She brings an extra layer of discernment to every project: are clients genuine in their engagement with Māori culture, or performative?
Melbourne based designer Zara Shrestha has made art for as long as she can remember. Graphic design turned out to be where that habit met clear communication and things you can hold in your hands.
Her view of the industry is clear: access is what needs to change: mentors, internships and funding for young creatives from any background, so that "who you know" stops deciding who gets in. With AI and templates everywhere, she believes staying human is what keeps designers at the forefront.
Our City Hosts all over the world bring their communities together every month for meetups, live events, panels, studio tours, presentations and laughs! Jump in and RSVP to the next meetup in your city!
Alix Northrup and Laara Bonn have teamed up to help creatives navigate the messy middle. Through online sessions, they offer outside perspective, creative feedback, and practical direction for everything from brand spirals and creative plot twists to those “something feels off but I don’t know what” moments.
Whether you need help finding a starting point, a fresh set of eyes on work you’ve already built, or ongoing support as your ideas take shape, there’s a Sidekick session for that. Bring the mess. They’ll bring the backup.
Every two years, our industry gets one honest look in the mirror. Mentally Healthy has been measuring the mental health of the creative, media and marketing industry since 2018.
It's anonymous, it takes about half an hour, and 2,000+ people made the last one impossible to ignore.
This year they're asking about the stuff we actually talk about after work: AI, killed work, whether leaders really see us — and whether we're tired of the whole conversation.
